It may not matter much to you, sitting by the fire under your orange-and-blue blanket, but outside of Denver, there seemed to be one overriding question in the face of the trade of Jay Cutler:

What were the Chicago Bears thinking?

“They gave up an awful lot to get him, they’d better be getting their money’s worth,” former Bears head coach and current ESPN analyst Mike Ditka said.

It’s not that Cutler, who threw for more than 4,000 yards in making his first Pro Bowl last season, isn’t considered a special talent. It’s just that his particular skill set — throwing the football — seems out of place. The Bears seemingly haven’t thrown a meaningful forward pass since Jim McMahon hit Willie Gault almost a quarter of a century ago.

“I think that will come as something of a shock to Cutler,” said Ditka, the coach of that Super Bowl-winning 1985 Bears team. “The philosophy has always been play defense and run the football, and I don’t think the Bears are going to change their character too much.”

That the Broncos got two first-round draft picks, plus a third-round pick, was one thing, said some observers, but actually adding a potential starting quarterback in Kyle Orton was a bonus. Although the fifth-year player from Purdue hasn’t distinguished himself, part of that could be because of the Bears’ almost Neanderthal approach to the forward pass.

According to Ditka, Orton has been underrated. According to another former NFL signal-caller, Shaun King, no matter how talented the newest Bronco is or isn’t, the team may well come out ahead.

“I think Orton is at least a functional quarterback,” said King, who also works as an analyst for ESPN. “But look at it this way. Whether it’s him or Chris Simms, whoever wins the job next year will have earned it. Nothing is going to be given to either one, and so whoever is the starter will have earned the respect and admiration of his teammates, and that goes a long way in the locker room.”

Now, King continued, the onus shifts even more upon new coach Josh McDaniels, who shipped Cutler out. Even with the potential harvest of draft picks, someone will have to play quarterback for Denver next season, and Broncos fans, as well as management, haven’t exactly embraced the idea of rebuilding. So, if the Broncos are to win right away, the thinking goes, McDaniels will have to live up to his reputation as a quarterback guru.

“There’s always a question when a lieutenant is promoted to captain,” King said of McDaniels. “In his case, a lot of how all this will look hinges on the results. On the surface, it seems like McDaniels comes from a leadership-based offense and Cutler was a talent-based quarterback. Just because you can play doesn’t mean you’re a leader or that you inspire your teammates.

“I think that was the thing about (New England Patriots quarterback) Tom Brady. He’s grown into a great talent, but that wasn’t initially his thing. However, those guys always loved playing for him. And Brady and Matt Cassel were the same guy. Now we’ll see if McDaniels can do the same thing with Simms or Orton.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.